Improvement in hard-rubber trunks



Mew r UNITED STATES WILLIAM C. SPELLMAN, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARD-RUBBER TRUNKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,216, dated July 18, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM G. SPELLMAN, of the city of Hartford and county of Hartford, in the State of Connecticut, have invented an India-Rubber Trunk; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The nature of my invention consists in the construction of trunks of the material known as hard rubber, the body being formed in one piece and the lid in another, said parts being hinged together and provided with locks, straps, and, if necessary, with an outside covering of canvas. The latter, however, forms no part of the trunk, but is merely a temporary protection to it, such as is already in common use on other trunks. The trunk is lined with soft rubber, deodorized by any eifective process. The trunk thus made has no joints or seams to weaken it and render it penetrable by moisture, but, consisting only of the body and cover, each made in a single piece, is exceedingly strong and durable. The odor of the rubber, however, would be so oflensive as to render the trunk useless were it not lined with some substance through which the rubber odor could not pass. N o unsized textile fabric or paper would effect the object; and if sized, the sizing would in a short time be destroyed, and the odor imparted to the clothing or other articles contained in the trunk would again become insupportable. Another defect of paper or board linings would be their hardness when applied, whereby the surface of many delicate articles might be defaced or injured; and

still another defect of all paper, board, or cloth linings would be that they could act simply as linings, and not to any extent in supporting the walls or imparting to them additional strength. I therefore employ the deodorized soft-rubber lining, which efi'ectually prevents the smell of the hard-rubber walls from penetrating to the articles within the trunk; which makes a soft, yielding lining that prevents the rattling of substances within the trunk and their abrasion or injury from contact with the bottom or Walls; which supports the walls, giving them much greater elasticity and strength, and which, extending along the line of contact between the body and lid, renders the joint water and airtight Whenthe trunk is closed.

A trunk thus made can be knocked about and handled with the roughness customary on the part of railroad and steam-boat employs and other carriers for years without being materially injured. It can be molded and ornamented in any fancy design, so as to far exceed the oldfashioned trunk in beauty and finish.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

As an article of manufacture, a trunk. having a body and cover composed entirely of hard rubber lined with deodorized soft rubber, substantially as described.

W. C. SPELLMAN.

Witnesses:

NATHAN K. ELLSWORTH, E. A. ELLSWORTH. 

